Today’s education environment has profoundly shifted form the formal classrooms we were likely subjected too in our years to learning. In fact formal education, where students are in the classroom, is believed to be less than 10 % of their learning framework and shrinking. Why is it shrinking? Many futurists believe that students are busy with IM, or skyping or simply turned off by boring lessons. Students are very capable multitasking, where schools tend to lock down classrooms so that teachers can teach. In today’s learning environment we should be opening the doors and windows to let the world in, yet as is common among school leaders we close doors and windows and even pull down the blinds, to divert eyes to the teacher. However the growing body of research now tells us we are failing.
Welcome to Web 2.0. I do not propose that these tools or in fact technology is going to transform the educational learning space, however it does offer ways to reach all children and truly engage them in the learning paradigm. The key ingredient, as in the past, is the teacher. A good teacher can work their art or science regardless of the tools and resources at their disposal. Schools need to acknowledge that Wikipedia, Facebook, MySpace and hosts of other social connected networks continue to grow and our students are involved and connected to the world. It is my hoe that schools learn to embrace the concept, and value the learning that social computing offers rather than close the link. In today’s’ connected classrooms we need to broaden the use of the learning spaces not close it in. Embracing the learning opportunity will engage students and improve learning outcomes.
In this open access collaborative environment the learning comes form interaction with peers and friends over 90 % of their time. These students need to read/write and learn with the tools of communication and interactivity, simulations and messaging for building the skills of today. A blended approach can be used, face to face interactions, asynchronous or synchronous tools, as well as some eLearning components are required to achieve maximum opportunities for today’s students.
Add need learning paradigms such as constructivism and personal learning environments contribute to this paradigm shift. ‘Outside of classrooms’ around the world students are becoming the creators of knowledge and contributors to growing networks at an alarming rate while schools struggle to keep students in the classrooms.
Assignment: Web 2.0 tools and PLE (or VLE)
How has learning environment improved through the pursuit of individualized education or personal learning environments? Make specific reference to as many Web 2.0 tools or eLearning tools as possible. Reflect on how your school has polices or processes that enable / disable the use of some of these tools and resources. Describe key paradigm shifts between the learning environments of today and yesterday.
In response to this question, draft an outline and then write a position paper on this topic. Each of your topics should have sub layers with more depth. In order to reduce future work the completion of this task may serve as an outline for your paper on this topic. This assignment may be used as an optional graded exercise.
Lesson 5
Personal Learning Environments
Today’s education environment has profoundly shifted form the formal classrooms we were likely subjected too in our years to learning. In fact formal education, where students are in the classroom, is believed to be less than 10 % of their learning framework and shrinking. Why is it shrinking? Many futurists believe that students are busy with IM, or skyping or simply turned off by boring lessons. Students are very capable multitasking, where schools tend to lock down classrooms so that teachers can teach. In today’s learning environment we should be opening the doors and windows to let the world in, yet as is common among school leaders we close doors and windows and even pull down the blinds, to divert eyes to the teacher. However the growing body of research now tells us we are failing.Welcome to Web 2.0. I do not propose that these tools or in fact technology is going to transform the educational learning space, however it does offer ways to reach all children and truly engage them in the learning paradigm. The key ingredient, as in the past, is the teacher. A good teacher can work their art or science regardless of the tools and resources at their disposal. Schools need to acknowledge that Wikipedia, Facebook, MySpace and hosts of other social connected networks continue to grow and our students are involved and connected to the world. It is my hoe that schools learn to embrace the concept, and value the learning that social computing offers rather than close the link. In today’s’ connected classrooms we need to broaden the use of the learning spaces not close it in. Embracing the learning opportunity will engage students and improve learning outcomes.
In this open access collaborative environment the learning comes form interaction with peers and friends over 90 % of their time. These students need to read/write and learn with the tools of communication and interactivity, simulations and messaging for building the skills of today. A blended approach can be used, face to face interactions, asynchronous or synchronous tools, as well as some eLearning components are required to achieve maximum opportunities for today’s students.
Add need learning paradigms such as constructivism and personal learning environments contribute to this paradigm shift. ‘Outside of classrooms’ around the world students are becoming the creators of knowledge and contributors to growing networks at an alarming rate while schools struggle to keep students in the classrooms.
How has learning environment improved through the pursuit of individualized education or personal learning environments? Make specific reference to as many Web 2.0 tools or eLearning tools as possible. Reflect on how your school has polices or processes that enable / disable the use of some of these tools and resources. Describe key paradigm shifts between the learning environments of today and yesterday.
In response to this question, draft an outline and then write a position paper on this topic. Each of your topics should have sub layers with more depth. In order to reduce future work the completion of this task may serve as an outline for your paper on this topic. This assignment may be used as an optional graded exercise.
Tools and Resources:
Personal Learning Environments: Steven Downes (http:// http://www.downes.ca/)
Constructivism : George Siemens (http://www.connectivism.ca/blog/)
Innovate Webcasts (http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=event&type=webcast)